I am getting the distinct impression that many/most/all disgruntled conservatives in this country dumped all of their American big bank stocks as early this morning as possible. It would explain these numbers.

I am also wondering if such a reaction might not be because the GOP insiders had all been assured that Mitt would be elected and then, rather suddenly, and much to their surprise, last evening the report of the voting trend was wrenched in the opposite direction.

A supporting fact for the above mentioned supposition is the fact that it was made known to the public who paid attention last night that Romney had only prepared one speech, an acceptance speech.

Also, to anyone paying attention, it was clear that Bush's campaign numbers projection guru, Karl Rove, was noticeably caught completely unaware when the tide of voting took the sudden turn and there was an avalanche of states that were too-close-to-call deposited in Obama's column in a few short minutes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) spiraled to its lowest point since Aug. 2, suffering one of its biggest percentage drops this year. "The big election is in the books, but the dreaded 'fiscal cliff' is getting closer every day, and we still have to deal with Europe," said Schaeffer's Senior Equity Analyst Joe Bell. "Participants started selling early and often, as basic materials and financial stocks took the brunt of the damage. There is now a lot of uncertainty about whether Congress and President Obama can come to an agreement on revenue and spending cuts, and this caused a lot of investors to unload their positions."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 12,926.95) is down 316 points, or 2.4%, as investors digest yesterday's presidential election results, while refocusing their attention on the rapidly approaching "fiscal cliff." Meanwhile, U.S. markets are feeling the sting of comments made by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who warned that weakness in the euro zone is starting to affect Germany, the largest economy in the region. Elsewhere, the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 18.91) is 1.3 points, or 7.6%, higher. [link to www.schaeffersresearch.com]

One other electoral factor worth considering: the election of Elizabeth Warren to the Senate. She was one of the driving forces behind the heightened regulation of America's banks, and a prime mover at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, so I think you can draw just as bright a line between Warren's victory and the declining share prices of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) , as you can between Obama's victory and the decline of the Dow in general.

Look at history. What's happened this year is not that unusual compared to other 1st and 2nd day after the elections going back to 1900!

Consider the 15 elections since 1900 in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.94% dropped on the day after. In eight of those cases, the market rose on the next day — the second trading day after the election — while it fell in seven. That’s about as close to a coin flip as you can get.

this is fairly normal. Nothing seriously out of the pattern going on here. Yes, when you see yourself taking a short haircut in a day or two, it's kind of intimidating. But you have probably had them before and will have them again. And they are usually reversed by gains within a month or so after you're "shorn" of your profits for a time.

Good luck but don't panic about this stuff. It's just normal swings of the market doing what it does. Vegas is only a little more risky, but the payouts can be a much longer time in coming. Take your pick! <grin>